


Sharing a Memory

by WinchesterWarrenSon



Series: Post s8 Finale John/Naomi AU [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-12
Updated: 2013-08-12
Packaged: 2017-12-23 05:14:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/922421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinchesterWarrenSon/pseuds/WinchesterWarrenSon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naomi is alive but fallen, and John is back from the dead. Neither are all that welcome to anyone, so they find company and support in each other. John learns Naomi has never eaten at a 50s-style diner before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sharing a Memory

Naomi sat on the other side of the diner booth, tilting her head slightly at the menu sitting in front of her. John knew she knew how to read - she could read in multiple different languages, speak in so many languages he swore some of them were made up, and she was very intelligent. But she did struggle with basic concepts of what menus were and why restaurants exist and why people needed to eat.

He was sort of getting why Castiel had been “dumb as a post” when he met the man. Angel. Whatever.

The less he thought about Castiel - and subsequently Dean and Sam and why he was kicked out of the bunker - the better.

“Do you mind if I order for you?”

Naomi shook her head.

“You are the one who chose this . . . place to eat after hearing I had never eaten in such an establishment before. I think you ordering would be best in this case.”

John nodded. The 50s styled diner was nostalgic due to when he was born and where he grew up, and he always did kind of like the style. The fact that she had never set foot in one or even knew what one was baffled him, and he was struck by the sudden need to make sure she ate the best burgers and fries and milkshakes and vanilla Coca-Cola a 50s diner could give.

He wasn’t sure what he felt about Naomi. On the one hand, she was one of the fallen angels. She had supernatural powers, but was lacking some that she had had previously.

When he had stumbled upon her, her head was bleeding and she had had trouble remembering who she was and what had happened to her. But her memory returned to her a couple months later after hanging around John - he wasn’t sure why, but he couldn’t just leave her. Not after she almost was badly hurt by vamps after he met her.

They quickly rediscovered her powers and strength, but that didn’t erase the feeling that he needed to look after her. And it was a good thing he did; she wouldn’t know when to eat otherwise or how to feed herself.

It was weird. John never really considered himself to be nurturing. Which was part of the reason he had been such a horrible dad. (He knew he was a bad dad. He . . . knew he was still a bad dad.) But there was just . . . .

He didn’t dwell on it.

The waitress came over all cheerful and asked what she could get them to drink.

“A coke and a coffee,” John said; he would’ve ordered something alcoholic but he knew they didn’t have it.

“Any syrup shots?”

“Vanilla in the coke, the coffee black, no sugar.”

“All righty, coming right up.”

Naomi furrowed her eyebrows and watched her leave.

“What are syrup shots? And why is she dressed so different from everyone else?”

“It’s a themed restaurant, so the waiters and waitresses have a work uniform that’s fashioned to fit the theme. Almost everyone dressed like that when they’d work in a restaurant in the 50s. So it’s calling back to that time period.”

“Before or after Christ?”

John paused for a moment to stare at her dumbly.

“1950s.”

“Oh.”

She blushed a little, but did not bow her head. He liked that about her; embarrassment didn’t mean that she had to cower or stop heading forward in life. Her mistakes almost didn’t seem to matter to her, even though she wished she could seek out help from his boys.

She didn’t seem to mind John all that much, though.

“As for syrup, it’ll flavor the drink.”

“Why not order a regular if I’ve never had it?”

John shrugged. “The experience of it? You can pretty much get regular coke anytime you want, but vanilla is kind of rarer. And when I was a kid, I used to get a shot of it in mine all the time.”

Something lit up in her face, as though she understood something.

“Oh, I see. You’re sharing a memory with me.”

The corners of John’s mouth twitched upward.

“Yeah.”

She smiled at him, and it made his chest feel funny, but not in a bad way.

“Thank you. I . . . I’ve never had anyone willingly share their memories with me before.”

He noticed the use of the word “willing” but he actually wasn’t all that curious as to what that meant. They didn’t talk much about who they used to be. She already knew a lot about him, anyway. And he was content with simply knowing that she had made sure Heaven behaved as it was supposed to, but that things got violently out of control because of Castiel.

John was content with believing that Castiel was to blame for the mess that had resulting in him - and some others - coming back to life.

Metatron had really fucked things up, and according to Naomi, he wouldn’t have been able to if it wasn’t for Castiel....

Good luck telling Dean that, though.

The waitress returned with the drinks. John gave her the order of a classic burger with fries for Naomi and a different type of burger with more things on it and onion rings for him. The waitress left, and John took his coffee cup into his hand, but didn’t drink from it. He watched her and waited to see if she liked the taste.

She made a little bit of a face.

“It’s sweet. And . . . has bubbles?”

Her eyebrows wriggled a little, but she ended up smiling and laughing.

“It tastes like frivolous prayers feel.”

John found himself smiling too.

“Prayers?”

Naomi nodded. “Angels hear prayers, but we don’t always choose to do anything about it. But we like hearing them, most of the time. Prayers from children about wanting ponies or prayers from adults who don’t realize how perfect they already have it are like this. Except this tastes and the other - ”

“Is a feeling,” John finished for her.

She continued to drink her coke. John forgets he has a coffee. It turns cold by the time he remembers it, but he can’t bring himself to care all that much.

It has been a long time since he has felt this way. He hasn’t felt this way since. . . .

The waitress returns with the food and offers to get Naomi a refill. Naomi accepts the offer with a smile that John wishes he could bottle up the brightness of it and keep it in a jar so it could remind him that as long as something so precious existed nothing was as bad as it seemed.

John swallowed as he realized what it was he was feeling.

He was falling for the fallen angel.

She gingerly took the burger off of the plate and into her hands, hesitating at first. The hamburger was greasy and has ketchup and other condiments on it, and she appeared to struggle with knowing how to pick it up without making a mess. She still wore a nice gray suit - she did not see the appeal of plaid flannel and blue jeans. John had to admit she did look very powerful in her suit.

He watched her as she took her first bite. She took a moment to actually move her mouth away from the burger, but when she did, she let her eyes flutter closed and a moan escaped her. John felt the air in his lungs vanish.

“This is delicious,” she said with her mouth full, and it was kind of cute.

“Glad you like it,” John said honestly, moving to start eating his own food. He watched her more than anything, though.

She liked the fries just as much, and she finished off her second coke pretty quickly. The waitress kept bringing her refills, and John got a hotter coffee at some point. When Naomi came close to finishing her meal, John piped up again.

“Any room for dessert?”

She looked up at him and tilted her head a little, curious. His smile returned.

“Do you know what that is?”

She shook her head, sipping at the vanilla coke some more.

When the waitress came by again, he ordered a chocolate milkshake. The waitress winked at him, then went to go get it.

When the waitress returned with it, it had two straws sticking out of it. The bill was placed by John’s elbow.

Naomi regarded the milkshake curiously.

“Is it customary to share it between two people?”

“Uh....”

How should he answer this?

“Yeah, between couples. She must think....”

“Do we behave by her expectations to avoid embarrassing her? I’ve been told before my fall that humans have complex emotions and there’s no telling what might upset them.”

John snorted a little.

“We don’t have to pretend to be a couple to avoid hurting feelings,” John assured her.

Naomi thought about it for a moment.

“Do you want any?”

John shook his head.

“I’m full, but have at it.”

She nodded, then pulled the milkshake closer to herself. Taking the straw between her fingers, she pursed her lips around it and proceeded to drink the thick liquid.

John watched as she swallowed, smiling and laughing a little bit.

“I’m beginning to understand why humans enjoy being human.”

John laughed at that.

“Food is a perk.”

He simply continued to watch her as she enjoyed herself.

He hadn’t found anyone this beautiful since he and Mary were young and getting engaged.


End file.
